Opening ceremonies were held August 18, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa for the second U.S. Africa Command Academic Symposium.

Thirty-seven academics from Africa, Europe and the United States have come together to enhance their understanding of U.S. Africa Command and offer their input on how the command can best support peace and stability in Africa.

Co-hosted by U.S. Africa Command and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), the symposium seeks to engage academics with expertise in subject matter areas including history, political science, security studies, civil-military relations, and conflict management.

For the next four days, participants will assess the ways that Africa Command can best support democratic civil-military relations in Africa and discuss the command's efforts to assist building security sector capacity in Africa. They also will identify areas of further cooperation between U.S. Africa Command and the academic community.

Celebrating this year the 10th Anniversary of its founding, ACSS is one of five U.S. Department of Defense regional centers that provide strategic-level education to international civilian and military personnel through a combination of multi-week courses, short-term conferences, seminars and workshops, and outreach.